Nine former residents of a children's home in Kent are suing the county council over abuse allegations.
The claimants were residents at a home for teenagers in Rochester called Medvale, which closed in 1990.
They allege that they were abused by Peter Jaynes who was employed as the officer in charge in 1986 and who practiced a controversial form of therapy, known as ‘regression therapy’.
Jaynes, who died in 2017, was jailed for historic abuse offences against children in 1991.
Katherine Yates, a solicitor acting for the claimants, told the BBC: ‘All of them have struggled in their adult life dealing with the trauma of what happened to them.
‘One of them went for counselling and finally spoke about what had happened and then contacted us and we started to look for witnesses and we found the practice was widespread.
‘I'm hoping for an apology, some clients want some compensation. They really want recognition that what happened to them was wrong.’
A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: ‘KCC has received a number of claims relating to historic allegations of abuse at the Medvale Children's Home. These are being investigated. As this is now a legal process, KCC is unable to comment further at this time.’
Check out: The role of councils in supporting child victims of abuse
